1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cassette with a memory which is used for a digital VCR which can add a plurality of character information to a video image, and relates to a data arrangement in a memory area of a memory in a cassette with a memory for recording digital data.
2. Description of the Related Art
A digital VCR for digitizing video data and recording onto a magnetic tape is being developed. Since a transmission band of digital video data is very wide, for example, a DCT transformation or the like is performed to the digital video data and, after that, the video data is recorded onto the magnetic tape.
A digital VCR into which a cassette package having therein a memory or the like can be loaded has also been proposed. There has also been proposed an apparatus in which by loading such a cassette package, signals can be input and output to/from the digital VCR and a representative still image of a program recorded on the cassette tape and a tape address and TOC (Table Of Contents) from which the program is started are stored into a memory, thereby simplifying the access and realizing a high speed.
The memory provided in the above cassette package comprises a main area, an optional area, and an unused area. Its data structure is divided into a main area and an optional area. The main area is the area in which data (main event) such as tape information or the like is recorded. The optional area is the area in which data (optional event) such as index information, TOC, and the like is recorded.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,338,644 and 4,383,285 are disclosed that a memory loaded in a recording medium cassette of a VCR stores reacording data, and in Japanese Patent Application number H04-217503 and corresponding to EP Application number 0,580,434, are disclosed such recording medium cassette. Each of the above application are owned by the assignee of the present invention and are hereby incorporated by reference.
The character information regarding the recorded video image is recorded into a text event existing in the memory. In the case where there is the character information, a text flag provided in the memory is set to "0". In the case where there is no character information, the text flag is set to "1". The character information and the text event correspond in a one-to-one relation.
Even in the case where there are a plurality of character information, the text flag is set to "0". However, since there is the one-to-one corresponding relation between the character information and the text event, a plurality of character information cannot be made correspond to one text event. Therefore, a plurality of character information cannot be added to the recorded video image.
In the case where the above-mentioned event is accompanied with character information or the like, a text event is recorded. In case of recording the text event, if the recording order with the other events is not properly set, when the character information is added or deleted, data processes in the memory are complicated.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a cassette with a memory in which by making a plurality of character information correspond to a plurality of text events, the plurality of character information can be added to a recording video image.
It is another object of the invention to provide a cassette with a memory in which the recording order of a text event and the other events is properly set and data processes in the memory in case of adding or deleting character information can be easily executed.